Maytas Infra sports mysterious wealth

Be it metro rail, airports, port, roads Maytas Infrastructure, a B Ramalinga Raju promoted company has won contracts for almost every government activity for which bids were invited in the recent past. Speculative talk veers around the company’s links with the government and the people at the helm.

This is story of Maytas Infra, a company that Satyam Computer Services was so keen to buy. Construction World has adjudged Maytas Infra “the fastest growing construction company in India” and has been growing in strength ever since.

In the past two years Maytas Infra has won contracts worth Rs 14,800 crore (See chart), including a 71-km elevated metro rail project coming up at Hyderabad.

But Maytas Infrastructure also seems to have mis-represented its financials.

“The statutory auditors of the company in their limited review report for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, qualified that the company made under-provision for service tax liability and excess provision for deferred tax liability, resulting in a net understatement of profit after tax by Rs 1.60 million for the quarter,” Maytas Infra’s Vice Chairman B Teja Raju said in the “notes” attached to its quarterly results filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Following developments at Satyam, Maytas Infra’s Chairman RC Sinha has resigned from the post. However the company feels the developments at sister company would not have a bearing on its business.

“Maytas Infra is a publicly listed, separate and independent company run by a strong professional management team.

Developments at Satyam do not impact operations of Maytas Infra and it is business as usual” a Maytas Infra company spokesperson told Hindustan Times through email.